Plot

The gang is travelling to Slateport City via a cruise ship. May reminds the others if it weren't for her, they wouldn't even be here, as she is a participant of the Grand Festival. Her friends tell her they are proud, as she won all 5 ribbons. Afterwards, they come to Nurse Joy. They greet her (and Brock flirts with her and is pulled by Max). May wants her Pokémon to be watched over, so Joy asks if they want to train or to relax - they have also the playroom. May chooses to first trest, then to play. She sends all her Pokémon and waves goodbye to see other parts of the ship.

As they walk, they spot Officer Jenny with an Growlithe. Brock also flirts with her and is pulled by Max. May asks if there is trouble, but Jenny has seen no crimes yet, but has heard of Brodie, a member of Team Magma, is on the ship. The gang knows this Brodie - he stole data from the Weather research station about Kyogre and Groudon. They do wonder if he still is in here. Team Rocket, dressed as cleaners, spot the gang. Jenny tells them Team Aqua and Magma exist no longer, as they couldn't control Kyogre and Groudon. Still, Brodie became a thief instead. Jenny has tracked him here and he is somewhere on the ship. Jenny tells them if they see something strange, they need to report to her.

Team Rocket is very thrilled as they heard the part about Team Aqua and Magma. Jessie and Meowth tell James it is because of them they are destroyed, tough James recalls they were blasted off as usual. Jessie tells him not to go in details, so James thinks they need to tell it to their boss about this event, thinking they'll be promoted. May and her friends visit an exhibition - containing a Golden cup of the Grand Festival, the Ribbon Cup. May imagines herself holding the Ribbon Cup, though she spots her Munchlax coming. It goes to eat some food and bumps into the pedestal where the Ribbon Cup is. Max gives Munchlax the pink surprise, so Munchlax feels full already. However, the Ribbon Cup is ruined. Raoul Contesta checks the Cup and accepts the apology from May, but... he realizes the Cup is fake!

The Cup needs to have a stamp inside to be true, and a card is dropped - Jenny identifies Brodie, the thief she was looking for, stole the Cup. Team Rocket spot them in the vents, as their plans to steal the Cup failed. However, they plan to steal it from Brodie instead. Raoul begins to think they need to cancel the Grand Festival without the Cup, but May tells him she and the other Coordinators worked hard to get the ribbons for the Festival. Raoul tells her he won't cancel, but they need to make another one, but time is short. Jenny promises to get the Cup, as Brodie is still on the ship. The gang promises to help get the Cup back. So, they ask the guards - they always had lunch breaks. Once, one of the guards forgot something and got inside to get. The guard tells the other he was at the cafeteria, so Jenny knows it was Brodie, but disguised.

Max tells them Brodie might've already changed, so Brock realizes Brodie changes his disguise often. However, it can be anyone, so Jenny has an idea. So, she paints a Poke Ball in golden, to lure Brodie. At a lunch break, Ash tells Pikachu (loudly) to check the Golden Poke Ball, as it is worth a lot of money. Brock gets a drink and says he needs to see the Golden Poke Ball. May and Max walk past the billiard tables, saying the facts about the Golden Poke Ball. Everyone gathers to the room with the Golden Poke Ball. They hide as they heard some people. They are Team Rocket, who go to steal the Golden Poke Ball. They undisguised themselves, aas they are seen on the spot. However, Pikachu blasts them off into water with a Thunderbolt. May tells Jenny who Team Rocket are.

The captain comes, telling Jenny and the gang Brodie is stealing Pokémon from the Center. So, they go away and the captain stays. The gang comes down and see the captain again. Max tells him he told that Brodie is stealing the Pokémon, but the captain replies that he came from the Center and everything is in order. That leads to belief that the captain upstairs is Brodie. Before he grabs the Ball, Brodie is caught on spot and undisguised himself. Jenny tells him he is captured, but Brodie sends Golbat. Golbat uses Haze and when the smoke clears, Brodie is gone. However, Jenny was smart so she hid a transmitter inside the Ball, so they can track him. They come to a lady and Jenny accuses her to be Brodie, so he runs away. He changed his clothes, but the signal is still applied.

They find themselves in the kitchen with a lot of cooks. One cook comes to the chef to have him taste his food. The chef compliments his food and goes away. However, the same chef goes out of a room - Brodie was the first chef. They go after the signal, but see the Golden Poke Ball - Brodie must have found the transmitter and put it, fooling them. Still, Max thinks he went up to the deck - at the Weather institute, he came on the top of the building and activated his jet pack to run away, so he might have gone to the deck to escape the same way. They see nobody, but they do spot two Jenny's. The Jenny's begin to argue who is real and who is fake. However, Brock tells the one on the left is fake. Brock explains when she speaks to the one on the left, he sees an enemy, while speaking on the one on the right he sees a woman whom he is in crush.

Jenny goes to get Brodie, who undisguised himself, showing the Ribbon Cup. Brodie decides to give the Cup, saying it is not valuable, but Team Rocket take it instead. Brodie thinks it becomes boring and goes away using the jet pack. Jenny sends Growlithe and Jessie her Seviper. Growlithe starts with Flamethrower, but Seviper evades and uses Poison Tail on it. Pikachu attacks Seviper with Thunderbolt, so James sends Cacnea. Seviper goes to use Poison Tail and Cacnea Needle Arm, though Growlithe counters with Flamethrower and Pikachu with Thunderbolt. Team Rocket is blasted of by Pikachu's Thunder. The Cup is retrieved and put behind the safety glass. Raoul is pleased and wants May to compete, to which she accepts. At the end of the day, they see Slateport City. May is confident to enter and win, being prepared for what is to come.

Trivia

This is the first episode which Jamie Davyous Owens takes over the role of Officer Jenny, who had been previously voiced by Lee Quick.

When Officer Jenny sprays the Poké Ball with golden color, she says she presents the world's first golden Poké Ball. This is not completely true. Another fake golden Poké Ball was sold to James by the Magikarp salesman in Battle Aboard the St. Anne. Also, the GS Ball is half golden.